Chapter 1
Marcus Flint walked up to the middle of the pitch, Oliver Wood did the same from the other side. It was the first game of the season and Hogwarts had come out in force. Everyone was excited that the Quidditch season was going to start with a game between the two favourites whose rivalry seemed to go on off the pitch. Marcus sneered. He was not interested in the students hoping to see a bloody and brutal game. He was interested in the scouts for the big teams in the Quidditch Premier league. He looked at Wood who was also looking around, eager to see scouts from Puddlemere United. Madame Hooch impatiently whistled.
"Come on, lads. They are here. And they don't want to see a dirty game, they want to see great flying."
Wood grinned at Marcus who just smirked back at him. The two seventh year students - well in Marcus' case, seventh year student for the second time - had already talked about this. Both wanted to be scouted by different teams so they agreed to let each other shine. So Wood had decided to not let Potter fly today and Flint had put Malfoy on the bench. Neither of them had time for some stupid Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry. They were not kids anymore. The two Quidditch captains had spent the previous days talking about their strategies and how they could get the most out of their teams. Because scouts were not just looking for good flyers, they wanted to see leadership skills and teamwork. Leadership skills they both had - at least they were convinced they did even if their respectable teams may claim otherwise - but they were both aware that their teamwork was lacking. Flint and Wood liked to play tactics that would put most of attention on them and leave them with the best moves. You may have thought that this would be exactly what they needed to keep doing in order for the scouts to be impressed. But as captains they needed to play a game that showed how well their two teams were managed, taking everyones' skills into account. Eventually they had come up with a game plan.
Marcus looked up at the players already in position. As discussed, Wood had put his two beaters apart from each other. So he had believed Flint that the reason for having two beaters was actually to have one to protect the chasers and the other to attack and not have them stick together and only defend. Finally. Flint was well aware of how protective of his chasers Wood was, but showing too defensive a play would not impress anyone. Begrudgingly he had ordered Pucey, one of his beaters, to defend as well. Because no defence would not impress them either. Not that his team needed defending. Now that Malfoy was not playing, his team consisted purely of seventh year students. All of them were big and could take more than just one direct hit from a bludger. It was part of their training routine after all. Wood had tried to convince him to add at least one girl to his team but Flint had refused. He wanted to play for the Bournemouth Berserkers, an all male Quidditch team who relied on brute force and nastiness. All the players were Slytherin alumni and they would never let him try out if he broke the tradition of having an all male Quidditch house team. Thinking about girls made him look at the Gryffindor chasers. Angelina Johnson was easiest to spot. The girl was tall even sitting on her broom and her braids were tangling behind her. Alicia Spinnet was hovering to her right. The girl did not stand out but Flint knew that she was a fearless flyer and often managed to steal the quaffle right out of his team's hands because of her ability to just appear out of nowhere. Gryffindor's youngest chaser on the other hand was not difficult to spot. Not because of her appearance, Katie Bell was rather small and Flint though that the dark-blonde plait flying out under her helmet must have been the same length as her, but because of how all of the other players had subconsciously formed a protective ring around her. Bell had only started to fly for the team last year in her fourth year at Hogwarts and Flint had noticed her straight away. He begrudgingly had to admit that she was fast. So fast that he had been surprised Wood had given her the position of chaser and not seeker. Especially since a well placed bludger could easily throw her off her broom. And that was exactly why everyone was out to protect her. In one of the final games of the past season Pucey had hit a bludger that had been heading for Flint. The bludger crashed into Bell, who had been flying towards Flint to get the quaffle off him, and knocked her off her broom. Flint didn't really realise what happened at the time, all he recalled was Hooch suddenly blowing the whistle when he was just about to score and the stadium going deadly quiet. When he realised that Wood was nowhere by the goal posts he looked down and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch team on the ground. Before he could properly make out the body lying in their midst Dumbledore's voice was booming out, stating that the game was finished and everyone was to return to the castle. Flint didn't see Bell again that year but had of course heard the whole story. Apparently she was in the hospital wing for two weeks before being send home for the summer. He was a little surprised that she was flying again but those Gryffindors were a stubborn bunch. Bell had also come up in their talks and Flint had promised Wood that there would not be any direct attacks on the young chaser. Flint knew that this may mean Slytherin losing in the end but he did not want anyone injured. Especially not someone who looked like she could so easily break again.
"Ok, lads. I want a clean game. I know you have been talking about your tactics and I appreciate you finally realising that this will only benefit the both of you. Wood, don't leave the goal posts to try and influence the game. You need to trust your team."
Wood had the decency to blush at Hooch's comment. Flint grinned.
"And you Flint. I hope you can control your team. I do not want bloody noses and witches falling off their brooms. Understood?"
Hooch stared at him with hawk-like intensity. He nodded.
"I can't hear you, Mr. Flint."
"No bloody noses, no witches falling off brooms.", he repeated monotonously.
Hooch nodded, seemingly pleased with his words. She whistled and they were off.
Marcus zoomed out, flying over the heads of the audience. The excitement in the stadium was almost tangible. Slytherin was in the lead, thanks to some lucky misses by the Gryffindor chasers. Nevertheless, everyone was playing at their best. Well almost everyone. Marcus was yet to pull off some more impressive tactics and even though he knew that his attention needed to be on the game, his eyes kept wandering the pitch, in search of the small dark-blonde chaser. He hadn't admitted it to Wood, but the reason why he was so quick to agree for his team to go easy on Bell was that he felt the tiniest bit guilty about her fall. If the bludger had hit him instead he just wouldn't have scored but it would not have knocked him off his broom. Marcus sighed and circled round the Gryffindor seeker. Flint made a mental note to congratulate Wood on his decision to let an obviously short-sighted third year student play the position tonight. Marcus himself had spotted the snitch on three separate occasions already. His own seeker, Terence Higgins who had replaced Malfoy for this game, was under strict instructions not to find the snitch until both teams had at least scored a hundred points each. As it currently stood 80-60 Flint did have some more time to score goals. And he desperately needed to if he wanted to make some sort of impression on the scouts in the audience. Flint threw one last glance at Bell before banishing her from his thoughts and finally joining the game fully.